Deshaun Watson left Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski stunned when he appeared to defiantly walk off the field during Sunday’s blowout loss to the Washington Commanders.
Pressure is mounting on the Cleveland Browns to bench Deshaun Watson after another lopsided loss, and while that is perfectly fine, he shouldn’t be punished for a video depicting him in the wrong light.
On Sunday, a clip surfaced showing Watson walking off the field as the team faced a 4th-and-goal with 12:15 left on the clock and with 15 seconds still remaining on the play clock.
As a result, Cleveland took a delay of game instead of going for it as Stefanski planned.
Online, it was viewed as Watson being defiant and quitting on his team.
“Kevin Stefanski wanted to go for it on 4th down. Deshaun Watson proceeds to quit on his team and walk off the field.”
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That video has been viewed more than 11 million times and counting, and many fans have blasted Deshaun Watson for his apparent actions.
NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport decided to end the barrage of dislike towards Watson by providing context.
“Context (and reality) is important: Players are walking off the field because there were 12 men in the huddle and Cleveland was taking the penalty. You can see Amari Cooper counting the players in the huddle. Yet this wrong assumption has been viewed 10 million times,” he wrote.
The Browns’ $230-million quarterback has been bad this year, but this is not a moment when he should be getting blasted.
Rob Gronkowski Calls for the Browns to Bench Deshaun Watson
The Cleveland Browns are sticking with quarterback Deshaun Watson despite a lackluster performance that contributed to a 34-13 loss on Sunday.
Watson finished the day completing 53.4% of his passes for 125 yards and one touchdown.
At halftime, with Cleveland down 24-3, Fox Sports analyst Rob Gronkowski made it clear that the team needed to bench him and play Jameis Winston.
“They gotta start looking at Jameis Winston,” Gronk said. “And the possibility of putting him into the game.”
